김유천 연구실

Drug delivery is the modulation of pharmaceutical or biopharmaceutical administration for efficient therapeutic effect. In order to improve the efficacy, safety, and patient compliance of drugs, drug delivery researches have focused on how toreduce toxicity, increase absorption and distribution, and improve release profile. Various routes of delivery including oral, pulmonary, intranasal, intravaginal, and transdermal have been investigated, and we delve into advanced transdermal drug delivery such as targeting drug delivery used for cancer-therapy avoiding side-effect. Genes are the basic molecular units of heredity of a living organism and achieve their functions by directing protein synthesis. Gene therapy is a technique for inserting, altering, or removing genes within cells and tissues. Generally, a normal gene is inserted into the genome to replace a disease-causing gene. The viral vector is considered the most common method for effective gene therapy, but it has safety issues. We are working on non-viral gene therapy including variousphysical methods such as electroporation, micro-or nano-particle carriers, and micro- or nano-needle gene delivery. Vaccination is the most effective way to prevent the spread of infectious disease. The recent outbreak of pandemic H1N1 influenza gave us a lesson how vaccines are critical for global health. However, current vaccine production systems and administration methods have several limitations. We focus on two aspects of vaccine research: optimization of recombinant vaccine production by genetic engineering and development of effective vaccine administration methods such as skin vaccination.